Ice and roller skates typically include a boot and a chassis. The chassis is mounted to a sole of the boot and is adapted to engage a surface on which the wearer is skating. In roller skates, the chassis typically supports a plurality of wheels which engage the ground. In ice skates, the chassis typically includes a blade or runner that engages an ice surface.
Skates are typically configured so that a center of gravity of the skater is disposed generally centrally along the length of the skate chassis. This skate configuration is generally referred to as a neutral pitch. As skaters become more advanced, they may desire to vary the skate pitch to accommodate a preferred skating style. In fact, for specialized skating activities, skates having a non-neutral pitch may be desired so as to shift the skaters' center of gravity forwardly (forward pitch) or rearwardly (rearward pitch) relative to a typical neutral pitch skate.
For example, in hockey, offensive players tend to desire increased sprinting speed, and thus desire a skate having a forward pitch, which leans the skate forwardly and correspondingly places their center of gravity forwardly. Defensive players, on the other hand, tend to desire ease and speed when skating backwardly. Thus, defensive players tend to desire a skate having a rearward pitch, which leans the skate rearwardly and correspondingly shifts the skater's center of gravity rearwardly.
In the past, accommodating an ice skater's desire for forward or rearward pitch has necessitated customizing the runner to a specific pitch. This typically involves grinding away relatively large portions of a standard ice skate blade so that the ice skate has an overall pitch as desired by the skater. The grinding process is time consuming, expensive, and leaves room for significant errors and inconsistencies. Such inconsistencies can negatively affect a skater's performance. For example, inconsistencies between a matched pair of ice blades could disrupt the skater's balance. Further, precisely duplicating a specific grinding pattern can be difficult. Accordingly, each time a skater installs a replacement blade, the blade likely will vary somewhat from the previous blade, and the skater will require time and practice to become accustomed to the replacement blade.
Some skaters may play multiple positions in hockey or may prefer different skate pitch configurations for varying conditions. However, once an ice blade has been custom-ground to a specific configuration, it is not adjustable to other configurations. Thus, to accommodate a skater's changing preferences in ice skate pitch, the player must have multiple sets of ice blades in order to match each preferred pitch configuration.